Edmonton pitcher steps into intense spotlight of Yankee Stadium in major-league playoffs

New York Yankees batter Giancarlo Stanton hits a home run off Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Erik Sabrowski during the seventh inning of Game 1 in the American League Championship Series on Oct. 14, 2024. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press)

It's the biggest stage Erik Sabrowski has been on yet.

New York City.

Yankee Stadium.

In the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs, specifically the American League Championship Series (ALCS).

And not just anywhere on the expansive green turf at the fabled venue in the Bronx: On the pitcher's mound, thus in the intense spotlight in front of 46,537 fans and millions of viewers on TV while facing the powerhouse Yankees' top hitters.

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The left-handed relief pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians struck out three of the five sluggers he faced Monday night over 1-1/3 innings of work in Game 1 of the ALCS.

Pitching in the sixth and seventh innings, the Edmonton native retired Juan Soto and Austin Wells, and got star Aaron Judge to line out before Giancarlo Stanton hit a 439-foot home-run into the left-field bullpen.

The 26-year-old capped his appearance by striking out Jazz Chisholm Jr. to end the seventh.

Sabrowski, who played in his first major league game early last month after being called up to the Guardians from the minors in late August, has now pitched in three playoff games, the first two coming last week in Cleveland's divisional series against the Detroit Tigers.

He played regularly over September, coming on in relief in eight games as the Guardians marched to an American League Central Division title, before Cleveland began its playoff run versus Detroit.

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Erik Sabrowski throws against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning during Game 3 of their American League Division Series on Oct. 9, 2024, in Detroit. (Paul Sancya/Associated Press)Krista Wennerstrom, Sabrowski's mother, calls seeing her son pitch in all three playoff games he's appeared in so far "an adrenaline rush" but is trying to stay grounded as best she can.

"I try to be like Erik and just stay in the moment. He's taught me a lot about not thinking too far ahead," Wennerstrom, who's attending games with Sabrowski's step-father John Fiacco, told CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday from New York.

"(Sabrowski) has an amazing quote, 'Be where your feet are,' so just watching him, I could see how composed he was. He really can dial in. Us up in the stands, we're so excited for him but trying to stay composed and respectful of the Yankee fans that are all around us, not wanting to be overly excited but, at the same time, just over the moon for him."

Taylor Burns, the founder and director of Edmonton's Absolute Human Performance training facility who coached Sabrowski when he was a teenager and continues to train him in the off-season, said seeing him pitch in the majors has been "beyond incredible."

"The dream is, when you think of October baseball, you think of the Yankees, so for him to be at Yankee Stadium is, it's beyond words. It's beyond description," Burns told CTV News Edmonton.

He said he isn't surprised Sabrowski is playing at the major-league level – "Erik has truly outlier stuff," Burns said of his pitching abilities – and that his top attribute is not necessarily what he can throw at the best batters in the world but "his toughness," which Burns says manifests in "different ways."

"When you see him out there as a rookie, toughness is the ability to stay calm and be collected and stay calm under pressure," Burns said.

"I think he's shown that so far in spades."

Sabrowski's appearance in the MLB post-season also marks the first time a professional baseball player from Edmonton has been in the playoffs in the 'bigs.'

The St. Francis Xavier high school graduate is the fifth Edmontonian to play in the major leagues.

Arguably the closest any of the previous four players from the Alberta capital who played in the majors has come to post-season MLB ball is Vince Barton, a right-fielder who played parts of two seasons for the Chicago Cubs, including the 1932 campaign in which the Cubs faced (who else?) the Yankees, featuring a shot-calling Babe Ruth, in the World Series.

According to the Society for Advanced Baseball Research, Barton – who was born in Edmonton in 1908 and moved with his family to Toronto as a child – showed great promise as a home-run hitter after being called up to the Cubs in 1931.

He was the National League squad's opening-day right-fielder and cleanup hitter the next year but struggled at the plate and was demoted to the minor leagues after 11 games. He was called up a couple of months later but was sent down again, and although he was recalled to Chicago later in the season, he didn't see action the rest of the year, including in the playoffs.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa